The New Year began with yet another twist on the long list of hidden health risks in our daily lives. This time, as The Telegraph reported in January, researchers at the Sorbonne in Paris claimed to have found that preservatives added to foods to extend their shelf life (nitrites in ham, sorbates in baked goods, acetates in ready-to-eat foods) increase the overall risk of cancer, particularly breast and prostate cancer.
It is not at all clear how these chemicals, present in very small amounts, can lead to genetic mutations that turn a normal cell into a malignant one. However, the size of the study, over 100,000 adults, and its publication in a reputable journal, might suggest that there is something to it… were it not for the fact that over the years many foods and nutrients have been blamed in the same way. This is clearly illustrated in the academic article Is Everything We Eat Linked to Cancer?
The author, Professor John Ioannidis, began by randomly selecting a dozen recipes from The Boston Cookbook, including beef chops, meatloaf, lamb croquettes, lemon cake, stewed dumplings, melted cheese, and more. These recipes yielded a list of 50 different ingredients, including butter, tomatoes, salt, flour, carrots, wine, and more, most of which have been linked to cancer in studies.
For about a quarter of the ingredients, no effect has been found. But for all the others, studies show either an increased risk of cancer or protection from it. The results, however, are extremely inconsistent. For the same ingredient, some studies say one thing, others the opposite. This is clearly absurd and leads to the conclusion that these findings are invalid.
Despite the great richness of the English language, many common experiences remain nameless. This lack of terminology is especially evident when one comes down with the flu. There is talk of a headache, muscle aches, and a fever, but nothing that fully describes the profound sadness that comes with the combination of all of these.
Doctors, who tend to be more introspective than others about their illnesses, often find that their personal experiences don't match the standard descriptions in medical textbooks. So it's no wonder that people have a hard time explaining how they feel.
This linguistic gap, suggests family doctor Douglas Macrae, is sometimes filled by idiomatic expressions from local dialects. In Lanarkshire, where he works, the word “hingy” is often used to describe a child who is not clearly ill but is starting to become ill, with rashes and irritability. When a mother tells him “the child is hingy,” he knows to be careful.
These local dialects also contain words that describe the sound of distress, such as “boke,” or the more severe form “boachch” for vomiting. “Dry boke” is a futile effort, while “wet boke” is self-explanatory. More such examples would be welcome.
The values of a glass in the evening
Finally, a note on the compelling evidence for the benefits of a regular evening drink in protecting against diabetes, as mentioned recently in this column. Alcohol’s beneficial properties include its role as an antiseptic; curing athlete’s foot; relieving muscle pain; prolonging life and, as one woman in her early thirties reported, helping to get pregnant.
For several years she had tried unsuccessfully to get pregnant, following official advice that the "safest option" was to not drink alcohol, so as not to harm the fetus.
Then, one evening, she gave in and drank. When her period didn't come for two weeks, she knew that the long-awaited pregnancy must have happened. Could these two events be related? Reflecting, she concluded that the reason for her difficulty getting pregnant had probably been the fact that she went to bed completely sober every night. /The Telegraph
